Imprints
by kangaroos
Summary: Set post 703. That's all I can say at this point. It's supposed to be a short fic with a few chaps.
1. Chapter 1

**IMPRINTS**  
**  
A/N: **i started writing this one a while ago, just didn't have the courage to post it.  
thanks **Jocelyn Torrent **and** werewolf666vampire** for proofing.

**Summary:** a Palex Fic

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Degrassi or any of it's characters.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**_Wednesday morning_**

It was her.

It was definitely her.

The sleeveless, turquoise dress with an abstract design, purse on her left shoulder, the mid-calf, brown leather boots with that flaunting smile and cell phone in her right hand, no, she could never have missed that entrance.

Alex had spotted her as soon as she had entered the little coffee shop that had become her favorite morning hangout spot for the two years now. Alex pretended to ignore her, but could she really do that?

Not in a million years could Alex ignore this blonde. This was the girl who used to be her whole life only a couple of years ago. Presently, she was just another stranger sitting in the coffee shop a few tables away, slowly sipping the hot beverage in front of her, and completely unaware of Alex's presence.

Alex looked, no, she stared at her in-between sipping her own coffee and using the daily edition of the 'Transit' newspaper she had picked up from the newsstand, as her cover. Her plan had been to get her morning coffee from her favorite and conveniently located Bloor-Bedford Tim Horton's coffee shop, drink it while updating herself on the events around the world, and then head off to her class that was supposed to start in less than an hour.

Alex's plans changed ever since she had seen the blonde. In the last fifteen minutes, she had already scanned through 'Transit' newspaper twice but had not read it even once. Suddenly, it did not matter that the continent was almost enveloped by the global depression, the world was in the midst of a global warming crisis and that Iceland glaciers were melting hastily; or the fact that Steve Jobs had come up with yet another one of his upgraded devices to compete with the Microsoft. The 'happening' news of a certain individual apparently deserved precedence over the global news.

* * *

The class was supposed to start in fifteen minutes. The excuse of finishing her coffee had run out. The newspaper had also been scanned four times now. Alex knew it was time for her to finally leave the tiny coffee shop and start her day.

She was about to stand up when she smelled the papaya body spray in the air. It was what Paige always used to wear and the smell Alex could recognize anywhere. Alex looked up. The blonde was standing by her table. She had finally seen her.

"Hi, Alex, I just saw you sitting here."

"Yeah, I was just leaving," Alex said, standing up and picking up her bag from the chair next to her own.

"Ummm, I thought we could chat for a bit, it's been a while..."

"Two years, Paige." Alex interjected, "it's been two years."

"Yeah, two years," Paige barely whispered.  
The mild hostility coming from Alex was palpable to Paige, so she paused and looked nervously at everyone else but Alex in the coffee shop.

"So, what do you wanna talk about now?" Alex confronted with a calmer voice, sensing Paige's discomfort.

"Uh… I thought it'd be good if we talked, you know, about us…" Paige said hesitantly.

"I don't know, Paige, I'm pretty busy these days. My midterm's next week and I work after school and I'm late for my Physics class as we speak," Alex replied.

"I'll try to not take too much of your time, it's just that there's some things I need to say to you and I just think..." Paige let the idea linger, hoping Alex would agree.

"I don't know, Paige. Do you think that two years is a long enough time for you to come back and say those things to me?" The sarcasm was obvious.

"Alex, I'm sorry. I would've called you earlier. It's just that I tried calling you, but you had changed your number and..."

"Is that why you're here?"

"Well I wanted to meet my parents before they left to visit Dylan in Sweden and..."

"So, you weren't really looking for me? I'm just a by-the-way thing for you?" Alex had not been able to control her angry stare.

"Alex, please. Just write down your number and I'll call you…"  
Understanding Alex's stubbornness, Paige just picked up an unused napkin from the table and placed it in front of Alex. Then she took out a pen from her purse and put it on top of the napkin, "Please, Alex."

The begging in Paige's eyes, made Alex write her cell number on the napkin. She decided she was not going to let Paige's magical appearance bother her.

Giving Paige a final look, she headed for the door.

"Alex, thanks,"

Alex turned to look at Paige one last time and then quickly left the coffee shop.

* * *

"Show dates?"

"I confirmed those."

"Models list?"

"Made it already, it's on your desk, Florence."

"Guest list?"

Paige quickly looked through the pile of papers in her hands. The list was not in it.

"I… don't have it."  
She half ran to the desk and started going through that pile. The list wasn't there either.

"But I remember putting it in here."  
Quickly, she reached for another set of files, "It has to be in here somewhere," she muttered, ruffling through more papers.

"Maybe I left it at home or it's in the car."

"Then go find it." Florence's finger was pointing at her; "Andrea told me you've worked with her for a very long time, you should know by now to come prepared." She glared.

Paige knew Florence always waited for her to mess something up so she could scold her. That was how things were around here. They had a ladder system in the fashion industry, something that was not news to Paige. The second rule in the fashion industry was that anybody who held any authority over anybody was allowed to yell at them. Andrea had moved to the heart of fashion, the city of Paris, and a new boss had taken over since then. Florence was her new boss and 'it was her ass Paige was supposed to kiss from now onwards' Paige thought.

Paige knew that yelling at her was something that probably made Florence relieve the stress of her job. In fact, Paige knew it worked extremely well because she, herself, had tested it on a few of her friends, namely, Marco, Ellie and Alex.

The only problem was that all these 'friends' of hers were not her roommates anymore and she was still at the bottom of the food chain at work even after two years.

'_Shit! What do I have to do to get this woman to like me?'_

Paige wondered in her head, even though, she knew this was not about that. It was not about making people like you. It was not about convincing them that you were dependable. 'This' was all about stepping on others to get where you wanted to go and Paige knew she still had a long way to go. Some days it disgusted her, just thinking about what she had to do even though she knew all along that it was in the description of her work title.

Besides the fact that she had to suck up to people like Florence, her other chores included availing any opportunity she could get to prove to these fashionistas that she deserved to be here. If that meant snatching a job from under someone else's nose, stab someone in the back, kick someone in the stomach, it was all considered a fair game.

"Are you going to look for the guest list or would you need an invitation for that?" Florence glared at her some more.

"Yeah, I'll go look in the car…" Paige replied.

"When you find it, bring it to my office; and since you're on your way to the car, get me a Grande Non-fat Cappuccino, would you?"

Florence left without waiting for her answer. How exactly did _Starbucks_ fell into her route to her car, Paige wasn't sure, but she dared not ask that if she wanted to keep her job. Her face dropped as she went to the parking lot of the plaza.

She remembered that she had carefully put all papers in her bag last night and now there was a paper missing.

She didn't know what was happening to her. She used to be good at these things and now everything was just slipping out of her fingers. The more she was trying, the worse everything was getting. It was all falling apart.

_'What's happening to me? Ever since I saw Alex in the coffee shop, I'm losing focus along with my interest in things that I thought were important to me'._

* * *

**_Friday Night_**

It was almost ten o'clock on the Friday night. Most people her age were busy partying or clubbing, and Alex had just come back from her six-hour shift at the retail store. Her roommate was not home yet which meant some time for quiet reflection or just plain old sleep. She decided to take a hot shower to get rid of some tiredness before heading to bed. The last day of the week was always tiring, but she was still relieved because tomorrow was her day off.

She stood in the hot shower and let the water run on her tired body and work its magic. As her body relaxed, her mind wandered to what her brain associated with relaxing.

It's interesting how time makes you forget things, but some things just never dissipate. These are the memories of events that you just are never able to scrape out of your brain. You can never wash them off of you, never escape them. They linger over your head like a bumblebee hovering, buzzing in your ears, escaping your every attempt to squash it… Paige was like that.

Even after two years, her memory was still there. Sometimes those memories gave Alex satisfaction that she was once loved by someone so dearly... and at other times, the memories were there to remind her how alone she was now and how shattered she had been because of her. Either way, Paige was always there.

Paige hadn't called as she had promised, and Alex was angry with herself for believing her.

'_Why do I expect anything from Paige? Have I not learned my lesson?' _Alex thought to herself.

Just then, her cell phone started ringing in her bedroom.

'_Paige?'_ was the only thought in her head.

Alex quickly turned off all the faucets and quickly wrapped herself in a towel, as much as she could in two seconds, walked out of the bathroom and flipped open her cell phone.

"Is this, uh, Alex Nunez?" It was a female voice.

"Yeah,"

"This is the receptionist calling from St. Michael's Hospital Emergency Department. We have a patient with us, Paige Michalchuk."

_'What? Paige is in the hospital?'_ Alex panicked.

"She asked us to let you know she was here. Do you think you can come to the hospital and pick her up?"

"Did you say Paige is at the hospital? Is she okay?"

"I'm sorry. I can't give that information over the phone. She gave us your phone number and told us to ask you to come to the hospital. She is at St. Michael's ER."

"Okay, I'll be right over." She hung up.

'_Paige is in the hospital! I should call her parents!'_ Alex thought to herself nervously.  
Her hands were shaking because of the anxiousness.

'_Calm down, Alex, calm down. Everything's gonna be okay,'_ she consoled herself as she quickly pulled out her jeans and the navy blue T-shirt from the closet and dialed Paige's parents' number.

She got the answering machine. "This is the Michalchuk residence. We can't take your call right now. Please leave a message after the beep and we'll call you ASAP."

Alex hung up.

"I should hurry…." she spoke to herself. After hastily putting on her clothes and jacket, and tying her hair in a ponytail, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

* * *

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** before people start mistaking it to be another one of Paige's panic attacks...  
thanks Jocelyn Torrent and werewolf666vampire for proofing.

sorry about the country mistake, i guess i wasn't listening carefully when they said it on the show.  
For now though, I'll stick with Sweden.  
Also, I offer a quick update as an apology for the bad cliffhanger.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Degrassi or any of it's characters.

* * *

**_Chapter 2_**

Alex anxiously walked toward the big building of St. Michael's Hospital. The big saintly ceramic figure outside the hospital seemed as if it was staring right at her. It always did, Alex remembered.

Alex had been here a few times before and the memories of those events that had led her to this place were not pleasant at all. The only relief was that her mom was now at a safe place. she had finally admitted that she needed help. She now lived in an apartment that she shared with two other women, whom she had met at the 'Abused women group' an year ago.

Alex walked up to the 'Visitor Desk' but she was quickly referred to the 'triage counter' of the emergency department.

_'Paige was not moved to a room, she was still in the ER. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?'_ Alex thought nervously as she approached the Triage counter.

The look on the nurse's face, standing at the counter, turned in to a concerned one as she saw Alex. Alex figured that her state of mind had to be obvious on her face for the nurse to react that way.

"Hi, I'm looking for Paige Michalchuk. My name is Alex Nunez. I got a call from the hospital," she said in a nervous voice.

"Your relation?" the nurse asked.

Alex had asked herself this very question lots of times in the years that she had known Paige, and had come up with a different answer every time. She did not have room in her life for any more complications, so she chose the simplest of the answers.

"I'm her friend. She asked for me."

Alex read her name badge: Suzie.  
The nurse punched in the name on her computer and then nodded at the monitor screen.

"Come with me." The nurse opened the locked door that separated the waiting area of the ER from the patient area.

"Your friend's been taken to the radiology for a head CAT scan. This is her room," the nurse explained as she took her to one of the small cabin looking room that had a drape hanging as a substitute for a proper door. This was Paige's room.

"The doctor wants to talk to you before you take Paige home. You can wait for him in here. They'll bring her back here as soon as radiology's done with her."

"Is it something serious? Why are they scanning her head?" Alex asked when she was not able to handle the suspense anymore.

"No, it's just procedure. Your friend is doing well."

"Okay, thanks," Alex thanked the nurse and sat down at a chair by the hospital bed with a sigh of relief.

* * *

"Alex?"  
A doctor wearing greens had knocked on the side wall of the door-less room, after what had seemed to Alex like a lifetime.

"Yeah, I'm Alex."

"I'm Dr. Hayes. I'm the ER physician who's been taking care of your friend, Paige."

"Thank you."

"Paige asked me to let you know that she's doing well and as soon as she's done with the Radiology, you'll be able to take her home."

"Doctor, what happened to her? Was she in an accident?"

"Someone attacked her on the street. She had a blow to her head and there was a minor cut to the side of her forehead. There was some bleeding so we had to put a couple stitches there."

"The scans? What are they for?" Alex asked apprehensively.

"Yeah, we did those to rule out any head injury and everything seems to be okay. But..."

_'But? This is when they tell you what's really wrong with the person you lo... uh... care a lot about.'_ Alex recollected from all the movies she had seen, as she prepared herself for the bad news.

"We still need to rule out a concussion because of the blow."

"A concussion?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, because she got a blow to the head. Thing is that the symptoms of a concussion can take up to a day to become obvious so we want someone to stay with her for the next twenty-four hours and keep a close watch."

"She doesn't need to stay at the hospital?" A surprised Alex asked for a confirmation.

"No, you can take her home just as long as you make sure that she doesn't feel sick in any way, physically or otherwise. If there's any change in her behavior or if she gets nauseous, or forgetful, has trouble balancing, then she needs to be brought back in here. The nurse will give you a list of things to what to look out for."

"Okay. Would she need to take pills?"

"No, she doesn't. Just make sure she doesn't feel sick; otherwise, she is good to go."

"Thanks, doctor." Alex thanked graciously.

"You're welcome."

* * *

After a few minutes, Paige, in a wheelchair, was back to the tiny room where Alex was waiting for her.

"Hi, Alex."

"Are you okay, Paige? The doctor said some guy attacked you. What happened?" A concerned Alex rushed to her side, forgetting her previous anger.

"Sorry that I asked them to call you, Alex. My parents have left for Sweden so I gave them your number. I didn't know who else to call." Paige had different worries.

"Don't be ridiculous, Paige. You were in a hospital for crying out loud. It's okay if you needed me to pick you up." Paige just looked at Alex, appreciating her kindness.

Just then, the same nurse came back into the room. "Hey, hon, you're lucky you have a friend who loves you this much; she was very worried about you when she'd walked in."

Paige smiled at Alex lovingly. Alex just shrugged her shoulders to hide her embarrassment.

"I called you a cab like you asked. Is there anything else I can do, hon?"

"Thanks for all your help, Suzie," Paige thanked her with a grateful smile.

"Okay, so come by next week sometime, and we'll check those stitches for you."

"Alright,"

"Bye now," Suzie said as she left the room.

"Alex, I know the doctor wants me to stay with someone but I can't trouble you any more than I already have. I've called for a cab and they'll drop me off to my parent's place. Sorry for the trouble, the doctor insisted that someone come here, but you don't need to worry anymore."

"Paige, I'm going to push your wheelchair out to the cab," Alex said as she walked behind her.

"No, Alex. There's nothing wrong with me. I can walk," Paige objected.

"Yeah, but the fact that you have stitches on your forehead says otherwise and you're not going to your parents' place, you're coming home with me." Alex said definitively as she wheeled Paige to the cab waiting for them outside the ER entrance.

Paige was amused by Alex concerns. Two days ago, when they had met in the coffee shop, Alex's cold behavior had startled her even though she knew she deserved every bit of it. Seeing Alex's behavior now was a pleasant change.

_'All she needed to do was to get hit in the head'_. Paige smiled at the thought that had suddenly come to her mind.

Paige knew that if she could laugh at herself like this, she had to be perfectly okay, but if Alex still wanted to stay with her, then she had no objections whatsoever.

* * *

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

**Inside scoop:** its Switzerland actually but Paige is known to make that mistake, right? bear with me please.

thank you my amazing beta readers: **Jocelyn Torrent** and **werewolf666vampire** :-)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Degrassi or any of it's characters.

* * *

**_Chapter 3_**

The cab turned in the little courtyard of a thirty floor apartment building before it finally stopped in front of the main entrance. It was a little past midnight and even at this late an hour, there was more than enough activity outside the building.

Paige keenly observed it all. People were standing in little small groups in the courtyard of the apartment building and were busy conversing and smoking. The May weather had lately turned hotter than expected and had probably lured people out of their homes, Paige thought.

It was obvious to Paige that most of the residents of this building were either college or university students; one, because of its close proximity to the campus, and two, because how noisy it was out here. In fact, the building was so close to the Toronto U campus that even without asking Alex, Paige knew, it was where Alex went to school.

Paige looked as Alex paid the cab driver and then walked to her side of the car. She opened Paige's door and then took her position so she could help Paige get out of the car.

"Alex? I think I can manage getting off the car on my own," came out Paige's irritated voice.  
As much as she was enjoying Alex's protective behavior, Alex treating her like a child had begun to get on her nerves.

Alex stopped and moved out of her way. "'was only trying to help," she said simply.

"I know, but I told you, I'm fine." Paige said as she got out and closed the cab's door behind her. However, as soon as she saw Alex's long face, she regretted the squabble.

She walked to Alex and grabbed on to her arm as her indirect way of apologizing. "Let's see where you live," Paige said.

* * *

Paige remained quiet and let Alex open doors for her until they finally entered Alex's tiny apartment on the seventeenth floor.

Paige critically looked around as she walked in Alex's two-unit apartment. The little lobby was a small square room, barely big enough for two people wanting to stand in it at the same time. On her right was a tiny three-piece washroom; on her left was the tiny kitchen and in front, was the entrance to two tiny bedrooms; one of which belonged to Alex, Paige inferred.

She gazed at Alex to lead the way and as if understanding the look, Alex walked in to one of the rooms.  
Paige followed her.

There was a TV near the entrance, with a tiny couch in front of it. Alex turned on the TV and turned to Paige.

"This is my roommate's room. Let's just sit here," Alex suggested.

"What's wrong with your room?"

"Nothing, there's just no TV in that room."

"Okay," Paige replied understanding that it was a good enough reason and took the seat on the couch.

"Do you want to eat something? I got macaroni and cheese." Alex asked, walking to the kitchen.

"No, I think I'm good." Paige replied.

Alex took a Tylenol to prevent the headache that she felt fast approaching. She was tired and she knew that she couldn't sleep while she watched Paige. Dr. Hayes instructions were very clear:  
_'She had to make sure there were no symptoms of a concussion.'_

"Does it hurt?" Alex asked pointing at Paige's forehead as she sat down on the couch next to her.

"Yeah, a little, but it itches a lot."

"Tell me what happened. How'd you get the cut? Who attacked you?" Alex inquired.

The thought that someone had attacked Paige had been disturbing Alex ever since she had heard about it.

"He didn't attack me, Alex, he just wanted to grab and run with my purse. It was my fault that I resisted."

"You tried to fight him?" Alex looked shocked. "Did he have a weapon?"

"Well if you consider a bottle of wine a weapon, then yeah."

"Paige, are you crazy? It could've been worse; you could've gotten really hurt!" Alex was frustrated.

"Did you report this to the cops?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did, Alex. The cops were the ones who brought me to the hospital. I have filed charges, although it was an accident. I don't think he wanted to hurt me. He was probably just looking for some money so he could eat. Besides, nothing was stolen…"

"Yes, there was. He snatched away your freedom. He hurt you enough that you had to get stitches and you might also have a concussion that we won't know about for the next twenty-four hours. Anything could've happened to you, Paige. And no, he wasn't looking for money so he could eat…" Alex was raging.

Paige realized how upsetting and how close to home, all this was for Alex. She saw the fire in Alex's eyes. "Alex, it's okay. I'm fine, okay?" Paige said as she tightly gripped Alex's shoulder; and then she saw Alex slowly relax under her grip.

"Okay," Alex said softly.

"Always knew you had a bit of an activist in you, Alex," Paige smiled, letting go of her arm.

"What were you doing this late out all by yourself?" Alex gazed at her suspiciously as she realized Paige had successfully changed the topic to her. "And what'd you mean you didn't know who to call? Why didn't you call Marco?"

"He's not in Toronto. He was offered an expedition to Africa. Only three students were asked in his class; he was one of them."

"Oh, for how long?"

"Six months."

"And Ellie?"

"She's in Ottawa. She's trying to get an internship there, and no, I haven't been in touch with anyone else since the school ended, in case you're wondering." Paige ashamedly admitted.

"k. So what were you doing out on the streets, alone?"

"See… I was planning on calling you tomorrow and I didn't wanna meet you empty handed," Paige replied honestly.

"You were out looking for a gift for me?" Alex was surprised.

"Alex, I know this would sound silly to you, but there was this very cute necklace and I thought…"

"Stop, Paige. I really don't want to yell at you for the next twenty-four hours and you talking about going to buy 'me' a gift, this late, and risking your life for it, is definitely gonna make me yell, so just don't say anything for now."

Paige saw as Alex's temper reached sky high once again.  
It worried Paige to know how angry Alex still was with her but she didn't protest.

* * *

They both sat quietly as Alex flipped channels. Alex's roommate had cable, but everybody knew there was never anything good on TV, especially, on a Friday night.

After about half an hour of Alex flipping through the channels, Paige grabbed the remote out of her hands.

"You're like a little mouse that keeps getting electrocuted because he wants out but still doesn't give up." Paige smiled. "There's nothing on TV. You need to find some other way to entertain me."

"I am not here to entertain you. I just have to make sure you don't feel sick for the next…" she turned to look at the alarm clock by the side of her roommate's bed, "…twenty-one hours and eleven minutes." Alex, who was still not completely over the little wrangle they had about an hour ago, uttered coldly.

"You're counting seconds, Alex?" Paige was hurt and it showed on her face.

Alex instantly knew she had said the wrong thing.  
She cursed herself in her head, "No, I just... care that you don't get sick."

Paige knew that Alex was repenting in her head, so she let her off the hook.

"Well if you don't entertain me, Alex, I might get sick," she teased. "I see a PS3. Hook that up," Paige demanded, looking at the game console lying on the floor next to the 32-inch flat screen TV.

"Paige, the doctor said you need to take it easy, okay?" Alex tried to reason.

"Please, Alex. I've wanted to play against you ever since it came out."

Alex just raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Please, Alex."

_'Not the puppy eyes…'_ Alex rolled her eyes.

"Okay, maybe later," Alex said in defeat.

If there was another time and another person, Paige probably would've argued more about it, but seeing as she was already putting Alex through enough torment, she didn't object.

She gave Alex the remote back, "There, start flipping again, Jerry."

* * *

To be continued...  
p.s. pls stop me if u see me make a terrible mistake plot-wise, thanks.


	4. Chapter 4

thank u **Jocelyn Torrent** and **werewolf666vampire** for proofing.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Degrassi or any of it's characters.  


* * *

**_Chapter 4_**

"What did you wanna talk about the other day?" Alex asked after she was finally done scanning the channels for the tenth time.

Paige surprised at becoming the topic of the conversation, deflected it. "Oh, we'll talk about that later. 'Notting Hill' is on. I love this movie," Paige said as she took the remote and raised the volume.

Knowing that Paige had a weakness for popcorn while watching movies, Alex made microwaveable popcorn for her. Half-way through the movie, Paige had become comfortable in the little apartment and was now sitting with both her feet on the couch.

During the commercial break, Paige looked at Alex who was enthusiastically watching the Rice Krispy commercial.

"So this is all her stuff?"

"His," Alex corrected.

"His?"

"Yeah."

"And you agreed to it?"

"Agreed to what, him keeping his stuff in his room?"

"No, having a boy as a roomie."

"Beggars can't be choosers, Paige. Do you know how close this apartment is to the university? And his room's bigger than mine, hence I pay the smaller share of the rent, and he's okay with that."

"Interesting…" Paige smirked.

"What?"

"I think he likes you." Paige only teased.

"Of course, he likes me. I know it's hard for you to believe, but some people actually like me for who I am." Alex made a low blow since the opportunity had prevailed itself.

"That's not what I meant." Paige looked embarrassed.

"I know what you meant, Paige, and no, he didn't use his x-ray vision to scan me up when I came to look at the apartment, nor has he ever tried to make a pass at me. He's a good friend. In fact, he's one of the few people I can count on if I'm in any trouble."

"Okay. Sorry."

They watched the rest of the movie quietly.

* * *

"You can go take a nap or something. I'll just sit here and watch some more of this interesting TV," Paige said as she saw Alex yawn for the seventh time.

"No, I'm good."

"You had a long day?"

"Yeah, I'd just come back from work when the hospital called."

"You must be exhausted," Paige said with concern.

"I am," Alex said frankly.

"Really, you should go to bed. I'll be fine," Paige insisted.

"No, I promised the doctor. If I sleep, I might miss the symptoms. I'll sleep when you sleep," Alex said firmly.

"The old guy didn't even hit me that hard. I don't know how I could've bled from that, let alone get a cut. I think I may have fragile veins."

"I disagree. They never busted when you were angry," Alex said in a very serious tone, looking at Paige for a reaction. "I mean, I could see them pumping in your neck, but nope, never busted."

Paige who was looking at Alex in confusion, finally smiled, "Are you playing me?"

They both started laughing.

* * *

Paige observed Alex, who was now going through a magazine but it seemed like her mind was elsewhere.

"Is your roommate not coming home tonight?" Paige asked cautiously. The topic was not a favored one but Paige wanted to know more about Alex and her present life.

"If he was going to come home, he would've been back by now."

Encouraged by Alex's casual tone, Paige probed further.

"Alone?"

"Definitely. That's the rule. No guests."

"Wow, that's a strict one. You both follow it?" Paige asked.

Alex just looked at Paige and decided not to answer that. Paige didn't insist.

* * *

"What were you doing in the other room?" Paige asked Alex when she came back into her roommate's room with a piece of paper.

"Nothin', I was just searching online for something to test any changes in you because of the concussion."

"You're gonna test me with that?" Paige was amused.

"That's the idea, Paige. Are you done watching TV?" Alex asked as she took her usual seat on the couch.

"Yup."

"Okay, ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Paige replied unenthusiastically.

"Do you have a headache?"

"No."

"Any change in your vision?"

"No."

"Do you hear ringing in your ears?"

"No."

"Do you feel confused?"

"About what?"

"In general, Paige…" Alex replied irritated.

"Okay. No."

"Are you feeling too moody?"

Paige rolled her eyes, "No."

"Yah-huh?"

"Sorry, no."

"Are you able to balance yourself while standing?"

"Yeah."

"Show me."

"Alex, do I have to? You know I can."

"Then show me, Paige." Alex was serious.

Paige stood up from the couch and walked to the main entrance of the apartment, and then back to the room.  
"Happy?"

Alex nodded.

"Ok, now I have like four other sections I'll ask questions about. Okay?"

"Yeah."

"Your name?"

"Alex!" Paige protested.

"Excuse me, is that what you think your name is?"

"No."

"That's a question from the test. I'll ask again. What is your name?"

"Paige Michalchuk."

"Where are you?"

"At your place."

"What month is this?"

"It's the month of May."

"What day of the week?"

"Friday night. Wait. Early Saturday morning."

"Clever, Paige," Alex smiled.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Okay, you're not disoriented. Let's check if your memory is intact or not." Alex said looking at the paper in her hands.

* * *

"Okay, beginning with December, say the months of the year backwards."

"December... November... October... September... August... July... June... May... April... March... February... January."

"That's a perfect 30, Paige. Good job." Alex said proudly to Paige.

"Yeah, that's what Dr. Hayes said when he did the test at the hospital."

* * *

**To be continued...**

pls review bc i need the feedback to continue.  
I've been a little short on time so let me know if ur reading still.


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